Hello,

I have a girl that signed her lease and gave us security deposit back and 1st months rent. Now within 24 hrs if signing the lease she called and said she is going to rent of her brothers place instead. She wants all of her money back. Do I need to give her the security deposit back since she broke the lease? I live right outside of Chicago, il. I told her she could have the first months rent back but I would keep the deposit back since she broke the lease. Is that right? Please help me


Jonny

As the leasor of property, you should be aware of the laws governing this sort of thing.
A call to your State's or County's real estate division should get you an answer.
Better you learn of the law before the lessee finds the law on her side and threatens legal action.

I think you could come to some agreement; if you can rent the property in the time that she paid the first months installment, she gets her money back. If not, then you get to keep it.

Still, the law had better be on your side.

Actually you have it backwards. You can probably keep the 1st month's rent, but not the security deposit. A lot depends on what her move in date was.. If you can find a replacement tenant to move in right away you can only keep the amount of rental you lost.

She signed the lease which obligates her to pay the rental until the lease expires, you replace her or release her. So you can keep what she paid until you determine what she will owe.

What does your lease state? Your answer to how to handle this will be found in your lease and/or your state's landlord/tenant property code. There's a sticky at the top of this forum with a link for each state.

The previous posters are correct. There are amounts owed to you in this situation, and depending on your state's laws, there may be amounts that need to be returned to her. As a landlord, it's your responsibility to educate yourself on these matters. This website is a good start, but you have a lot of homework ahead!

At this point, with your signed lease, you're in a pretty good position. She's the one breaching the lease, so you have some time to figure out what you legally must do. It won't always be that way, so you need to know the answers to these situations.

Good luck!